


The Games

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-28
Updated: 2006-02-28
Packaged: 2018-08-15 21:37:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8073574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: Archer, Trip, T'Pol, and Mayweather are forced to compete in brutal combat. (08/10/2003)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

The shuttle glided down onto the rough surface of the planet. Another perfect landing for Travis Mayweather. The away team was complied of him, T'Pol, Trip and the Captain. The humanoids on the planet seemed nice enough when Enterprise had made contact with them.

Archer stepped out into a rush of warm air. It was a pleasant feeling that reminded him of the days he used to go to the beach with his father as a child. It was always the perfect temperature on those days.

"Didn't they say they'd meet us here?" Travis said, on observing the lack of welcoming party they had been promised.

"Maybe they're just late." Archer said, staying optimistic. Sure enough a slim figure emerged on the horizon moments later.

"I apologise for my lateness." The woman said, though she did sound very sincere. It sounded like something was on her mind.

"That's alright." Archer said happily and proceeded to the introductions. "I'm Jonathon Archer. This is my chief engineer Charles Tucker, sub-commander T'Pol and Ensign Travis Mayweather."

Everyone said something like 'hello', 'how do you do' and 'nice to meet you'. They all knew the drill. The woman didn't seem to be paying much attention however. Archer couldn't help but notice, but decided to try and stay cheerful. "And you are?"

"I'm supposed to take you to the halls now." She muttered. If Jon knew anything about body language, this woman was going through some kind of inner struggle with herself, trying to make a decision. Far be it for him to pry - after all, they'd only just met.

The woman began walking. She had yet to even make eye contact with any of the group, a fact everyone had observed. Nevertheless they all followed. Archer caught up with the woman who was walking rather briskly. "Might I ask your name?"

The woman looked up at him for the first time. Apart from some light marking which shrouded her face, she was not unlike humans. She looked away quickly, as if the decision she was grappling with in her mind was worsened by this action. Finally she answered. "Katin."

Running low on things to say, Archer blurted out "Nice planet you've got here...." Which caused Trip and Mayweather to glance at each other and smirk silently.

"Do you have any weapons with you?" Katin said, ignoring Jon's last comment.

Archer answered, thankful for some conversation. "Yes, it's protocol to carry weapons with us. In case we need to defend ourselves."

"I'm not sure you'll be allowed to keep them when we reach the halls." She said, her eyes on the ground.

"I guess that's alright." Archer said. "As long as we get them back."

The 'halls' were now in sight. They consisted of three fairly plain buildings with flags of assorted colours draping from balconies. The sight was quite pretty in all it's simplicity. People were scattered around the grounds.

When the group were around fifty feet from the entrance Katin stopped them. She looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Archer couldn't help feeling uneasy. Katin searched Archer face, looking for something that she couldn't see. Finally she looked at the others, then spoke again. "This is as far as I will take you. I was told to take you to the main chamber. It's in the centre building, just go in the main door and you will be met."

Jon was surprised by the regretful tone of Katin's voice. "Well, thank-you. It was nice meeting you." He said. The woman took one final look at them all and strode away.

"Well she was real friendly." Trip said, sarcasm lacing his voice.

"There's something I don't like about all this." Archer muttered.

After hesitating for a while, the group decided on going into the main chamber as Katin directed them. Maybe they'd find out why she was acting strangely.

As they drew closer to their destination, numerous people appeared to be staring at them. Jon put it down to them being out-of-towners as Trip would put it. A lot of hushed whispering was going on but no-one approached them.

They walked up the stone steps into the centre building. A large plump man was standing in brown robes. Nolin. They had spoken with him before. He turned to see the four enter and a smiled stretched across his features. "Ah! Welcome, welcome, I have been waiting for you to arrive." He said. Archer was happier at this more embracing greeting.

"I'm sorry to ask," Nolin began. "But do you have any weapons on your persons?" He asked abruptly.

T'Pol answered for the Captain. "Yes we have weapons."

"It is the rules of the halls to not carry weapons. Would you leave them here with the guard?" He asked politely. Archer thought it best to abide by the culture's rules. After all, they didn't want to get arrested now did they?

"Certainly." He said and the four of them put their phase pistols on a table by the guard.

The large man looked pleased. "Come now, into the main chamber." He gestured for the others to follow.

The three humans of the party were looking forward to a feast which they had been invited to on their first contact. Aside from the fact that they were starving, it was always nice to have your presence celebrated. But nothing pleasant awaited them on the other side of the doors. Instead of a grand feast, the away team were met with around eight people pointing guns straight at them.  
The chaos erupted straight away. A gun was fired - some kind of electrical pulse weapon - at Travis. He went down instantly. The others attempted to make a retreat. They were defenceless and grossly out-numbered. But there weren't many places to go.

T'Pol kicked an attacker in the chest causing him to drop his weapon. She acted quickly and picked it up. She shot four of the guards before being shot herself then fell backward and slid down a wall.

Archer and Trip were holding their own. The guard Jon was fighting was twice his size. He got smacked round the face hard and tumbled. Using the momentum of his fall he rolled over to a weapon. He hadn't noticed before but the weapon he held was different to the others. Getting up, he pointed it straight at the other.  
There was a sudden shout from across the room. "Drop you weapon!" Archer turned towards the noise but kept the gun on his assailant. What he saw was not a good thing. Nolin had Trip at gun-point, with a phase pistol. Trip was unarmed.

"These weapons have a stun and kill setting am I correct?" He said. His voice as no longer cheerful but threatening. Archer had little time to wonder how this man got hold of information about their weapons. "I took the liberty of downloading your ships database before you arrived. Including how to operate your weapons. This one is set to kill, so why don't you put down that gun?"

"Why don't you put down yours?" Archer baited. "And while you're at it, tell me what the hell you think you're doing attacking me and my people out of the blue?"

Nolin laughed. "You have fighting spirit. That will be of value to you where you're going."

Archer saw that T'Pol and Travis were down and Trip wasn't in a good position, not even for a sudden attack. He grudgingly dropped the weapon. The alien bent down to pick it up. Jon saw Nolin fire at Trip, then turned only to see his own attacker fire the gun. Then blackness.

* * *

"Captain?"

_What was that? Did someone say something?_

"Captain, are you alright?"

_That sounds like someone I know......._

"Sir?"

"Travis?" Jon muttered.

"Welcome back Sir." The young ensign smiled back with relief.

"Trip, where's Trip?" Archer asked, suddenly remembering what happened - hearing Nolin say that the phase pistol was set to kill, and seeing Trip get shot.

"He's alive." T'Pol's voice came. "The phase pistol was set to stun, not kill."

"He was bluffing." Jon sighed, momentarily comforted. But wait....why didn't Trip tell him that? Surely he would've made some joke about it? For the first time since he had awoken, Jon noticed where he was. He was on the floor of a dark, grimy cell, around the same size as his quarters on Enterprise.

Adjacent to their cell were even more cells, identical ones. They seemed to stretch on forever. Some of them were occupied with distant figures. Inside his cell he only counted three. "Where's Trip?" He asked, not looking forward to hearing the answer.

"They took him." Travis said hatefully.

"What? Who?" Jon asked. He didn't stop to notice that he was in a small amount of pain. Whatever that gun was, it hurt even more than a phase pistol blast.

"Nolin and more guards. We're not sure why, they didn't tell us anything."

Jon automatically checked for his communicator. "Taken." T'Pol told him.

"How long was I out?"

"Around half an hour. They shoved us in here, forced Commander Tucker to go with them and left."

"They didn't say anything, where they were taking him, why they attacked us?"

Travis shook his head.

"Someone's coming." T'Pol announced.

Archer and Travis looked down the dingy corridor to see three figures come round the corner, carrying a fourth between them. As they drew closer, the Archer made the slumping body out to be Trip. The Enterprise uniform was unmistakable.

Jon got his feet with some effort. Two guards and Nolin opened the cell door and threw Trip in. He let out a painful grunt as he hit the floor.

"Nolin, what the hell is going on?" Archer said through gritted teeth as he approached the bars.

"Your chief engineer did very well." Nolin replied smugly. "Especially for a first time. The crowd were most pleased. I can't wait to see how you three do."  
He sounded excited, the looked between them. "Let's try the Vulcan next. With Retnar. Yes, that will be interesting." He grinned. "Fetch her in three Turns."

Archer's head spun. What was going on? What did Trip do well at? Enduring torture? He'd mentioned a crowd.....and what or who was Retnar? Before he could ask any of these questions, they were gone. Jon turned his attention to Trip.

 

He looked completely thrashed. A riot of purple and blue covered almost the whole of the left side of his face. There were so many splashes of blood on him, it was impossible to identify where any of the wounds were.

"Trip, what happened, what did they do to you?"

Trip swallowed and spoke quietly. "They took me to this arena." He started. His eyes were still closed, like he was still half asleep. "There were hundreds of people there, all shouting. Then this big goddam ugly alien came out - " Jon might've felt slightly better after hearing Trip's sense of humour show through - if he hadn't stopped talking to spit out some blood. Trip didn't let them dwell on it though.

"Let's just say I got the crap kicked outta me. Thought I was done for, then this bell sounded and they dragged me back here."

"From what I can tell," T'Pol began. "Commander Tucker has several broken ribs, possible internal bleeding and severe head trauma."

"Is that all?" Trip murmured.

Two guards appeared round the corner with Nolin and started to open the cell. Obviously three 'Turns' wasn't very long. "Come on." One of the guards grunted, and seized T'Pol's arm. She thought the better of attacking them. The two guards were even larger than the ones they faced before. She looked to the Captain one last time and was taken away. Nolin stayed where he was.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I'm terribly sorry for lying to you." Nolin said, though he didn't sound very sorry. "I run a business you see, the Games. It's ancient tradition - "

"Beating the crap out of people in front of an audience?!"

"Well, I wouldn't put it in such terms, but more or less, yes, that's right. Business has been slow lately. Most of our warriors were killed during the fights. We had to bring in more people."

"You're trying to justify this to me?!" Archer spat. "You've imprisoned us, you goddam nearly killed my crewman, now you're going to force us all to fight and you're trying to tell me that you _had_ to bring in new lambs to the slaughter because your _business_ was going under?"

Nolin suddenly turned very bitter. "You're right. I don't have to justify this to you. And you shouldn't worry too much, you won't be complaining for very long." He then leaned in closer and whispered threateningly. "You'll get your turn."

T'Pol was led to a run-down arena. As she entered cheers and shouts arose which might have unnerved her it she hadn't suppressed all emotions. Guards similar to the ones who brought her there were stationed evenly at the sides of the arena, which was basically a large area of dirt.

Her mind was continuously reviewing the situation she and the others were in, and looking for potential escape opportunities. At the moment, she couldn't see any. There were two exits to the arena - the one she entered from and another directly opposite. Out of this door came three beings. Two were guards and the third (in between them) was a large six-legged creature, reflective black skin (If you could call it that - it looked more like a kind of armour.) and long head. It looked like a horse crossed with a scorpion crossed with a beetle. Overall, it did not look pleasant. T'Pol knew that she was going to be fighting the creature. It was the most likely conclusion.

Nolin's voice appeared from nowhere. T'Pol saw him siting in the stands speaking into a small device, which appeared to amplify his voice. He spoke in an alien language which she could not understand because her translator had been taken away along with everything else the away team had been carrying.

The shouts rose to a deafening roar as Nolin finished speaking. The guards left T'Pol in a hurry, running back the way she had come and closing the door. The creature sprinted across the arena and lunged at her.

* * *

Archer was pacing which was a difficult thing to do given the small size of the cell. Travis knew exactly what was going through his head - 'How could I let this happen?'

The enclosed space was quiet. Travis sat on the dirt floor with his back against the bars. Trip was sitting on the lousy excuse for a bed. It was more like a plank, haphazardly secured to the wall. Travis doubted (and hoped) that they wouldn't be there long enough to sleep.

"We need to contact Enterprise." Archer said, stating the obvious.

"How? We have no means of communication at all." Travis said. He didn't like to be the voice of pessimism but he didn't see how they supposed to contact the ship without anything even remotely technological surrounding them.

"Trip, any ideas?" Archer asked. Trip could make anything from nothing. But it seemed the his battered friend hadn't heard him.

Archer looked at the engineer perplexed. He knew that Trip was stubborn and wouldn't hesitate to lie about his physical condition if it meant others being worried. And Jon had a feeling this was one of those times. There was something not quite right with the way Trip's eyes were darting about from place to place.  
Travis hadn't seemed to notice but Archer grew increasingly more concerned at the distressed look on Trip's face.

Thinking on his feet, Archer thought of something. "Trip. Look at me." He said, then quietly moved across to the other side of the cell. Travis looked on confused but stayed silent as Trip looked at the place where Archer had been standing when he spoke.

Jon's face fell. "Over here Trip." He said solemnly, after the horrific realisation that Trip couldn't see. Trip snapped his head towards Archer, as if he could somehow mask the slip.

Mayweather were now aware of the situation. Jon was no doctor but he approached Trip and grabbed his head. Trip's eyes stared ahead but right through him.

"The blow to his head has done more damage than we thought. Why didn't you say anything?" He said.

"I'm fine." Trip said hopelessly, pulling away.

"You're blind Trip." Archer stated. He was far from fine.

"Do you think it's permanent?" Travis asked. Jon had expected Trip to be asking that question. It seemed that everyone else was more worried than Trip himself.

"I can't tell." Jon declared. "We need to get the hell out of here."

"I wonder how T'Pol's doing." Travis mused.

* * *

T'Pol scanned the floor for anything she could use as a weapon after being launched across the arena by the creature.

The floor was by no means clean. It was strewn with debris from god knows what. She saw a long pole and picked it up. The creature was charging again and T'Pol quickly got to her feet. So far she and the creature were not evenly matched. As Captain Archer might put it; she was getting her ass kicked.

Armed with the pole she held it steady and awaited the creatures approach. The crowd was screaming but T'Pol had blocked the distraction from her mind. The black blur was shrieking as it bolted towards her. She held her ground. It was about five feet away when she held out the pole.

A disgustingly loud screech emanated from the creature as T'Pol impaled it. Staggering backwards it finally fell silent and collapsed. Black blood spilled onto the floor.

T'Pol was breathing heavily and became aware of the crowd. She stepped back from the corpse of the beast and looked around. Everyone was cheering thunderously. Nolin was still sitting, clapping in an mildly impressed manner.

The doors opened again and three guards approached. T'Pol tried to catch her breath. Then something on the floor caught her eye. Subtly she bent down to pick it up. The guards led her out of the arena to a storm of applause.

* * *

"T'Pol." Archer greeted the Vulcan as she was led to the cell.

"I am alright Captain." Was the first thing she said.

When the guards had locked the door and gone again, T'Pol brought out what she had picked up and handed it to Trip. It was a circuit board with wires coming out of it. "I picked this up from the arena floor. I thought we could make some use of it."

Trip didn't take it.

"I don't think Trip will be able to help with that." Jon said, taking the board. When t'Pol looked to him for an explanation, he added "He can't see."

"Just because I can't see doesn't mean I'm stupid. What is it? Tell me what it looks like."

Jon handed Travis the device. "Tell him."

Travis sat next to Trip, handed him the board and began to describe it.

"Good work." Archer told T'Pol.

"They will most likely be coming to get another one of us to fight." She replied, disregarding the acknowledgement.

"I know. It'll probably be me or Travis. I want you to help Trip. We need to contact Enterprise. Failing that, we need to get this door open and get the hell out of here."

* * *

"How long has it been now?" Malcolm Reed asked Hoshi.

"About five extra minutes since you last asked." The ensign replied.

"Okay, open a channel. I want to talk to Nolin."

"You know, they're probably just having too much fun to contact us."

"The Captain said they'd check in every half an hour. So far they've checked in a grand total of no times. I want to know why. Open a channel." He repeated.  
Hoshi nodded. Someone appeared on the screen but it wasn't Nolin.

"Can I help you?" The man said arrogantly.

"I am Lieutenant Reed onboard the starship - " Reed was interrupted.

"What do you want?"

"I want to speak with my Captain. Their communicators have stopped responding."

"That's my problem?"

"It will be if you don't let me speak with my Captain right now."

"Well you can't. He's busy."

"Busy? The I want to speak with Nolin."

"Nolin is also busy."

"Don't give that crap, I want to speak with Captain Archer or Nolin NOW"

Hoshi was taken aback by the harsh tone of Reed's voice. She had rarely seen him this angry. But it seemed to work.

"Hold on." He said, and the screen went black as he got up.

A few moments later Nolin appeared. "Lieutenant Reed! How can I be of assistance?" He said cheerfully.

"Where are Capatin Archer and the others?"

"Why, they are still enjoying the feast!"

"Why can't I reach them?" Reed questioned.

"I don't know. Perhaps your technology has failed you?" Nolin suggested. He didn't give Malcolm a chance to reply. "I am sorry, I must go now." Nolin disappeared.

"Did anything about that strike you as suspicious?" Reed asked sarcastically.

* * *

"Okay, try fixing the blue wire to the second node from the left." Trip told Travis. "You know, I _can_ make this thing into a communicator but without a power source, this is a waste of time."

"I'll think of something." Archer said.

Footsteps told them the guards were returning. "How long are they gonna keep this up?" Mayweather asked, trying to hide the growing fear that there was a fifty fifty chance of him being taken next.

"They probably want their full evenings entertainment." Archer imagined.

The guards reached the cell. "You, come on."

They were pointing at Trip.

"What? He's already been out there!"

"The crowd wants to see one of the outsiders die. Can't argue with the crowd."

One of the guards entered the cell and grabbed Trip.

"No, wait! He can't fight, he can't even see!" Archer yelled.

"I don't care if he's bleeding to death!" The disgusting creature shouted. As long as his organs are still working he'll fight." Then he snorted. " 'less one ah you wants to take his place!"

Travis' ears pricked up. He knew that Archer would pick up on this passing remark. There was no question that Jon would take Trip's place to fight.

"Then I'll go!" Archer shouted.

The alien laughed a choked laugh and let go of Trip. "No Captain!" He yelled. He was as stubborn, if not more, than Jonathon himself and there was no way he was letting anyone else take a risk for him. Travis decided not to interject in the ensuing battle of wills. There was little he could do anyway.

"I don't wanna hear it Trip, you're staying, I'm going." Jon said, prepared. Trip began to say something else but Archer would have none of it. "I'm still your Captain, Trip." He reminded his engineer and got out of the cage.

Travis was sure Trip would have tried to tackle the guy if he'd been able to but he and T'Pol held him back. Archer was now out of sight but Trip continued to struggle. "Why'd you let him go?!" He said angrily.

T'Pol answered him. "Captain Archer is considerably more able than you are to fight. It was a logical decision."

Trip finally stopped struggling and slumped back.

To Jon, the arena looked just like an old circus. A very disturbing, twisted circus. He felt almost naked without a weapon, or communicator. Every nerve was burning with fear and adrenaline but he knew what he was doing was right. He couldn't let Trip fight. Hell, if Archer had it his way he'd have been awake when they first took him and fought till the last breath before anyone left the cell. And they had taken T'Pol so quickly he barely had time to act. _Damn it this is no time to be thinking about guilt Jonathon_

The crowd was in uproar. Jon couldn't quite believe how many people were there. If he remembered correctly, Hoshi had scanned around a thousand separate lifesigns on the planet. There must have been at least eight hundred of them sitting in the stands right now, each one of them shouting at the top of their lungs.

Archer spotted Nolin in the crowd, right up front in the centre. He was talking into a microphone type thing and his alien language was being projected around the arena. One of the guards stopped roughly and said "Stay here." There wasn't really anywhere else to go.

The guards hurriedly walked away, back where they came from. Across the arena two doors, identical to the one Archer had come through, opened. Before he could make out what was beyond them, a piercing roar reached his ears and a giant animal bounded from the darkness.

* * *

Travis was drowning in the tension filled cell. He couldn't stand the silence. The Captain was out there at that very moment, most likely being beaten to death. What were they supposed to do without Captain Archer? Trip had done all he could with the circuit board. All it needed was a power source. But how they would obtain one was a problem.

The distant sound of a screaming hoard of people, and manic coughing coming from a few cells down were the only sounds to be heard until...

"Will I get my vision back?" Trip asked. Mayweather picked up the resentful tone infused in his voice.

"I don't know." T'Pol replied. "The sooner we are back on Enterprise, the better your chances are."

More silence. Travis watched Trip's eyes dart around. He was definitely on the edge.

"Why don't we try and get the door open?"

"I have already examined the locking mechanism. The only way to open it is with the key." T'Pol declared.

"Well we should be doing _something_ instead of just sittin here like we're on death row!"

T'Pol raised her eyebrow. "Death row?"

"Forget it." Trip spat.

Travis wanted to tell the both of them to shut up. There were more important things to be doing than arguing. He chose to ignore them and continued to work on a plan to escape. But no matter how hard he concentrated, his mind kept wandering to the arena, and Captain Archer.

* * *

Jonathon Archer was no stranger to being attacked. But through the many fights he had won and lost, he'd never felt himself outmatched. It was just him and the beast. Without a weapon, his survival instincts told him to find one.

Jon failed to see anything that would make a dent in the creature which was two thirds of the way across the arena, something it had done considerably quickly - and it wasn't slowing down.

As the animal reached him and leapt forward, Archer rolled out the way. It came to an abrupt halt and turned. But Jon turned with it, making sure that it's back was always to him, using his size and manoeuverability as an advantage.

The thing had a nasty looking tail which eventually caught Jon's side, throwing him some way across the floor. He was near the wall now beneath Nolin. Lying on the ground was something one did _not_ want to do during a fight, but in this case it was a hell of a stroke of luck. Fumbling to get back up again Jon felt something sharp. Sharp meant dangerous, and that meant it could be used as a weapon. Sure enough he had Jon had found a shard of metal.

"Good enough." He breathed as he got to his feet. Another roll took him safely out of the creature's next charge.

Just when the good Captain thought he was getting the hang of things, the doors either side of the arena opened. Two more creatures came from the shadows.

They were smaller than the other one but just as quick. Jon could hear nothing but the crowds screams and the snarling of the beast.

The largest one made a final leap at him. Archer used it's momentum to slash at it's throat. It's skin was tough but the rudimentary blade had drawn enough blood for Jon to get covered in it. The creature thrashed around, blood splashed on the dirt floor. The two closing beasts were almost at the scene.

Archer was lost. There was no way he was coming out of this alive. _Isn't this the point my life is supposed to flash before my eyes?_ He thought as he meekly backed away from the flailing larger beast.

Still moving away it Jon noticed that the two closing smaller animals weren't heading for him. They were heading for the larger one.

He watched in disbelief as the two reached their prey and began to tear it apart. _The blood must have drawn them to it...._

The crowd weren't pleased. They began to throw things into the arena and, Archer noticed, at Nolin. Hoards of people then began pushing forward.

Guards poured out of the arena doors. Most of them had guns and began firing repeatedly at the two creatures. _I guess the fights over_ He thought wearily as two guards led him out.

Jon recognised the corridor as the one he came through. He was being taken back to the cell. Or at least he thought he was. Nolin came round a corner not looking very happy. He started yelling at the guards in the alien language. He turned around and the guards, who still had a hold of Archer, followed. They reached the cell but did not slow.

"Captain! You're alright!" Travis exclaimed when he saw him. But the guards didn't even let Jon stop for a second.

"Was that the Captain? Is he alright?" Trip asked frantically when they'd gone.

"He looked pretty bad, but he was walking." Travis answered.

"Where'd they take him?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Archer was now in a completely different environment. Scanning the office-type room he recognised it as the room Nolin had been in when they'd spoken from Enterprise.

"You caused a riot! A riot, in my beautiful arena!" Nolin shouted. He had one of the translators on the desk. And a communicator.

"Well, I'm not gonna apologise if that's what you want."

"Never before have I been so humiliated in all my days!" Nolin continued to yell. Archer wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do.

"You and you're people are nothing but trouble."

"Then why don't you let us go?" Archer tried. It was a long shot.

"Send you back to your ship? So you can destroy me from orbit instead of from down here? I don't think so."

"You know what you're doing is sick. It doesn't have to be this way."

"What other way could there possibly be? The crowds want violence and blood and that's what I give them."

"You could still hold the fights, but let people volunteer. Don't make fights to the death, make them about skill and getting the upper hand. You have enough people on this planet to make it work." Archer tried. He could see Nolin wasn't completely shut off to reasoning. "On my planet we have combat sports that thousands of people watch and there's very little risk involved. It doesn't have to be this way." He repeated.

Nolin stared at the human with an unreadable face. "Take him away." He said quietly.

Archer could not miss an opportunity. He pulled away from the guards before they could tighten their grip and went for the desk. The guards thought he was trying to attack Nolin and that's the way Archer wanted it. His hidden agenda was the communicator. He found it just as the guards jerked him away.

Travis and T'Pol caught Archer when he was thrown into the cell. "Okay, we probably don't have long..." He began, out of breath.

"Sir, are you alright?" Travis asked.

"Fine, fine, look there's not much time. I stole this from Nolin's office." He said as he brought out the communicator. "Call Enterprise. I'll just be.....sitting over here...." The worn out Captain exhaled.

T'Pol checked that the guards were out of sight then held the communicator up.  
"T'Pol to Enterprise." She said in a hushed voice.

"Enterprise here. Are you alright Sub-Commander? What happened?" The familiar sound of Lieutenant Reed spoke. But T'Pol didn't have the chance to reply. Nolin came storming through the corridor like a bat out of hell and shot her with a phase pistol. Jon went to her side right away. _Still alive. Thank god._

Then Nolin snatched the communicator back. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" He snapped. Jon thought it best not to answer that one. "What did you tell your ship? To destroy the entire planet or just my corner of it? I've had enough. You will ALL be executed for the games finale tonight! No fights, no winners or losers, just you four, DEAD" With that Nolin stormed off, the guards in tow.

"Well that could have gone better." Trip said. Archer knew he was using humour to refract all the panic Trip was in about his vision. He hated to think that on top of their impending deaths and their last chance having just been taken away, that Trip was dealing with the possibility of not getting his sight back.

"No kidding." Jon retorted, and tried to wake T'Pol.

"Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine, it was set on stun."

There was a moment of silence until Travis asked something that had been eating him. "So what's the plan?" He hadn't been on many away missions but the ones he had usually went wrong. But the risks were what made the job such a rush. To Travis, this was just another challenge.

Jon sighed. "I'm working on it."

"Captain..." A female voice whispered. But T'Pol was still unconscious. The others looked around.

"Katin?" Katin, the woman who led them into an ambush when they'd first arrived, emerged from the shadows. Archer hadn't expected to see her again. Thinking back he remembered Katin being in two minds about something. Obviously her conscience had gotten to her.

"You have to understand how sorry I am for leading you here...."

"Sorry?!" Trip suddenly broke. "I don't think sorry quite covers it!"

"Trip, she's come to help....." Jon said then looked back at Katin. "You are here to help aren't you?"

"Yes but I can only do so much. I can't get you out of here yet, but during the games tonight I'll create a distraction. If you can get out the building I'll be waiting to take you to your shuttle. I only ask that you take me with you."

"You have my word."

So the plan was set. Katin crept out without being noticed. Archer wondered what the 'distraction' she spoke of could be. It would have to be big enough to stop the games and that wouldn't be an easy task.

T'Pol, who'd been lying on the poor excuse for a bed, opened her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Archer asked.

"Were you able to contact Enterprise?"

"Nolin crashed the party." Trip interjected.

"No." Archer clarified, then told her about the plan.

* * *

That saying 'Time flies when you're having fun' would be more accurate as 'Time flies when you really don't want it to'. The shouts from the arena had been drifting to the cell for around an hour. The games were coming to a close. So far, no distraction from Katin.

"Maybe she changed her mind." T'Pol suggested.

"No she wouldn't do that, not now." Jon countered.

"Even so, it would not hurt to have a backup plan."

"Maybe, but I'm a little strapped for ideas right now."

Archer looked round at his crew. Mayweather looked like he was going to fall asleep at any second. He was the only one of the four that hadn't been in the arena and maybe this was for the best. Archer, Trip and T'Pol only barely survived. For a moment Jon wondered what the situation would be if anyone else from Enterprise had come along. He quickly dismissed the thought with a shudder. There was no use worrying about things that might have happened.

Things that were going happen - now there's what to worry about.

Archer started to wonder how Reed was handling things on Enterprise. After the brief communication from T'Pol he was bound to act.

Jon heard footsteps. They were coming and still no distraction. Katin was cutting it close. Or maybe T'Pol was right and she'd changed her mind. Either way the guards arrived and led the four to the arena.

The familiar screams and shouts greeted them as they reached the very centre of the floor and were forced to their knees.

"I wonder how they'll do it." Travis mused.

"They intend to kill us, I don't see the relevance in the methods they will use." T'Pol said.

"We're not dead yet." Archer told them. Everyone was being so pessimistic! There was still a chance Katin would come through. "Trip, how's your vision?"

"What does that matter?"

"Trip."

"I can only see blurs of colours." He replied.

At that point four different guards entered the arena. They looked more important than the others. They were carrying guns.

"What's goin on?" Trip asked Travis who was next to him.

"Four guards just came in with guns."

"Guns? That's a little low key, isn't it? You woulda thought they'd come up with somethin more special than that."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I just always saw myself dying in some fantastic way, savin' the world or somethin'."

"Really? I don't plan on dying at all. So far so good."

Archer listened to the conversation in awe. The mere fact that they were having a conversation was amazing seeing as they were about to die. _Now who's the pessimist?_

The guards reached took formation ten feet away from each one of them. The crowd went quiet. Archer preferred the uproar to the silence that now shrouded the room. He glanced at Nolin in the stands. He was grinning like a madman and holding the microphone device. He held it to his mouth. The guards held their guns ready. All Archer was thinking was _I wonder why Katin changed her mind._  
His eyes were fixed on Nolin. Before the man could speak, something amazing happened.

Through the silence a deafening noise erupted. The roof was caved in by a huge energy beam, which, unless Archer was hallucinating (Which was very possible), it was from the phase cannons on Enterprise.

The room exploded with screams, this time of terror. Debris showered from the caved in roof and people were scrambling over each other, no longer caring about the fate of the four 'outsiders'.

"I think we've got our distraction!" Jon bellowed over the incredible noise. "Come on!"

The four crewmen, acting on pure adrenaline (They were too astounded to be thinking), made a break for it with Archer guiding Trip towards the doors. With one last look at Nolin, they escaped.

The sunlight outside stopped them from seeing Katin it was so bright. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust. "Hey! Over here come on!" She shouted. "Your shuttle is this way."

People were flooding out of the arena shortly after them. Nolin was one of them, practically in a hysterical rage but in all the chaos he didn't see Archer and the others getting away. Looking into the sky Jon saw Enterprise in a low orbit. He'd never been happier to see anything.

The shuttle was just as they left it but it had been moved. It seemed Nolin hadn't decided what to do with it yet. Travis slipped into the pilot seat like he'd never been away and they took off.

"Archer to Enterprise, thanks for dropping in. We're on our way home."

"Good to hear your voice Sir. Is Katin with you?" Reed asked.

"Yes....." Jon replied, and turned to her. "You contacted Enterprise?"

"You needed a big distraction didn't you? I contacted your ship and your Lieutenant was more than happy to use your weapons to help."

"I'm sure he was." Trip laughed.

* * *

Everyone on Enterprise was beaming when the away team finally came home and despite being battered and worn out, they were glad to be there too.

The four went straight to sick bay (Doctors orders). Archer insisted Trip be the first one checked over and Phlox obliged. Apparently his blindness was temporary caused by slight swelling of the brain due to head trauma. Trip had never been so relieved in his life, though he tried not to show it.

Archer was next, then T'Pol. Travis was the best off, though Phlox ordered everyone to rest for at least four days.

* * *

"I'm glad none of you were too badly hurt. I can't apologise enough for taking you to that terrible man in the first place." Katin said. She was speaking from her families ship. They'd come to pick her up as soon as she contacted them. Now that Nolin was ruined, she could finally leave with her consciences in tact.

"You did the right thing in the end." Jon reassured.

"Thank you for taking me with you. I hope we meet again some day." Katin said and stepped onto her ship.

"Me too."

Katin disappeared from the screen and the ship went into warp. Jon sat in his chair which seemed like luxury after the cold floor of his previous reside.

"Next time someone invites me to a feast, shoot me."


End file.
